The Horrors I Have Seen
by SailingPianoMadness
Summary: I have finally made a life for myself and now it's all about to be ruined by a request from the military and my absentee father known as Tony Stark. Horrors beyond my wildest dreams find me struggling to keep up. After all, how much can one person take. A heavy past and an uncertain future that seems to grow darker keeps me on my toes. My name is Tesla East and this is my story.
1. Chapter 1

My sister Ezra and I grew up poor. We never knew our father and mother never talked about him.

Ezzy and I were 8 at the time when the men came. Ezra had hid me in the upstairs closet and told me not to come put unless she or mother told me it was OK. I could hear everything from in there, it's almost as if the sounds were amplified in that tiny closet. I could hear my mother begging the men not to hurt us, that they could do what they wanted with her but to leave us alone. The sound of glass shattering was quickly followed by the loud pops of a gun.

I remember covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut, trying to block everything out. I don't entirely know what happened next but what I do know is that I found myself in the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket, red and blue flashing all around me. I stared into the concerned face of a fireman, his mouth moving but no sound came out. Sweat dripped down his charred face as he continued to try for my attention. Passed him laid nothing but a black, hollow, shell of what used to be my home. White smoke billowed from every window as the other firemen continued to spray water into the window of what used to be my bedroom.

I still remember the smell of the air that night, the way a light breeze graced my tear-streaked face as they told me my mother and sister were gone. To this day, I don't know what happened after Ezra hid me in that closet or how the fire started. Every day since then I had to fend for myself, Ezra was no longer there to hide behind.

When I was 12 I got into my first fight. The older girl had been bullying me since I started 7th grade and I'd had enough. What pushed me over the edge wasn't the food in my hair or the spit balls that would land in my lunch or even my soaking wet shoes from being dunked in the toilet at gym. It was the comment about my family-how could anyone love me? After all, my mother and sister set fire to our home just to get away from me.

I lost it. I screeched as loud as I could as I stood from my desk and ran at her. In a flurry of arms and legs, I ripped hair, bit skin and hit at everything I could. I gripped her hair at the scalp and jerked my arm down as hard as I could, slamming her head into the desk a couple of times before she threw herself forward, toppling us to the ground in a tangled mess. At some point I bit her arm hard enough that I almost gagged on her blood. She furiously scratched and clawed at me as I rolled myself on top of her. I ripped her hands from my own hair and managed to pin them beneath my knees while I straddled her. Balling up my fists, I only managed two solid hits before the teacher grabbed me by my collar and tossed me off of the girl. It was that day that I realized I liked fighting, the adrenaline rush that comes from pulverizing your opponent is unlike anything I've ever felt. Needless to say, that girl never even breathed in my direction again.

I got myself kicked out of many schools, pushing my foster mom over the edge. On my 16th birthday, Bette, my foster mother, tossed me out. She told me to never step foot in her home again as long as she lived. That was second time I lost my family and home, except this time it was my fault. I remember walking away from the house with a pit in my stomach when I realized what I'd done. I somehow managed to survive, bouncing house to house, couch to couch. I eventually found myself at rock bottom with a needle in my arm.

The poison I'd injected myself with flooded my senses with euphoria as I flew through the sky. It was only the second time I'd done heroin, and thank god it was my last. My friend at the time- and I use that term loosely- had hooked me up with enough to last me a couple of days but failed to mention the part where his dealer fronted him the drugs promising me as payment. When said dealer came to collect, I was already out of my mind and on another planet. The grungy, dirty man picked me up and took me behind the house we were in and used me violently. I was bruised and beaten half to death and only realized how bad it was when I couldn't even lift my self from the dirt.

A man walking his dog found me lying there half naked and nearly dead. As it turns out, this man was a detective for the NYPD. Instead of ringing me through the system like he could have, he took me in and gave me a place to call home. As long as I helped around the house and did basic upkeep I was aloud to stay. That Christmas, Bobby gave me a box with papers for me to sign to make him my legal guardian. By the time I turned 17 I had already finished high school and was looking to get into college. Bobby taught me to work with my hands with cars, computers, house renovations, everything. My personal favorite was when I would tinker with electronics, learning what made them tick and tock.

College taught me actual computer work, the true innards of it all. I typed my way to the top of my class and by 20 I was building firewalls for fortune 500 companies.

At 21, I now have a career with BlackStoneTech as the head of the cyber division. My job was a breeze, everything came to me naturally when I would stare at the screen of a monitor. It was the one thing that made me feel like I had control over what I did and how I did it.

However, as nice as my life was currently treating me, some days I felt like I was missing something. I had a small house that I had decorated myself entirely. I painted the walls myself and even put in my own carpet, there was not a single thing about the house that I didn't do myself, aside from the occasional plumbing issues.

I don't really go out much besides to get takeout only to find myself in front of an old movie at home. Looking back on it all, I feel a sense of pride when I think of how far I've truly come. I survived absolute hell and came out on top.

It's Friday night and I can finally relax and let go of the stressful week I've had with fast approaching deadlines and a hacker that is testing my abilities. For the last week or so, someone had managed to break through three of my firewalls and began to weasel his or her way into the company's sensitive financial information. I've sealed off and moved all of the critical parts to a separate, self sustaining system that's completely separate from the main servers. I've tried everything I could think of to back trace the signal and end the cyber attack but nothing was working. I quickly tossed the thoughts aside; it's my weekend and I don't need to be thinking about work at the moment.

I glanced over to the stove clock and saw that it read 9:47pm. God, what am I doing, I need to get out of the house and away from the threat of being consumed by thoughts of work. A hard knock at the door startled me.

I looked at the clock again: 9:49pm. Someone had better be dead or I swear to anything out there, someone will be dead. Who the hell shows up at someone's home this late at night?

I shuffled my way over to the door, first check the top drawer of the stand next to it to make sure my 9mm was in there with the clip in. Peaking through the peep-hole, I saw three men standing there, the one in the front is in a black suit with a stern look on his face. The two behind him were dressed in military clothes, both standing very still. I opened the door slightly, not removing the chain on the door.

"Can I help you?" I asked, gauging their reactions.

"Tesla East?" The man in black asked?

"Yes." I said slowly.

"I'm General Stone of the United States army and I need to speak with you about an urgent matter."

"Can I see some ID, please?" I narrowed my gaze at him as he reached behind him and pulled out a small folded badge.

"A careful woman, just what we are looking for." He gave a small smile as he flashed his badge at me, pausing to let me read it.

"What can I do for you?" I asked a little more relaxed.

"May we come in?" It sounded like a question but his tone told me I shouldn't refuse. I nodded and, unlatching the chain from the door and stepping back, giving the three men entry into my home.

After they settled themselves on to my couches and I sat across from them in a recliner he began.

"As you know, BlackStoneTech has been under cyber attack for about a week now," there goes my work free weekend.

"I am very aware, tracking the attackers has proven to be challenging." I nodded.

He smirked, "That's because it is us. We are your 'hackers' as it were."

"Excuse me?" I stared at him, what the hell is going on?

"Yes, your company provides the military with cyber security for certain sectors of the Army. You Miss East, have been battling our top people and you have proven yourself as someone we would like to use."

"You've been messing with me? Is there a reason you couldn't have talked about this with me at work and not on my weekend?" Who the hell does he think he is? Do I look like someone who appreciates being stressed out for the sake of playing games?

"We had originally planned to discuss this with you Monday morning but the situation has become increasingly urgent."

"I'm sorry, why don't you use your own people?" My tone let slip my irritation.

"You beat them. All of them. We need someone from the outside to take a look at the situation and assess it from a different perspective."

"So that means what exactly, I trump around your base staring at your equipment?"

"Not exactly. You'll be on a base, just not here. You'll be in Iraq."


	2. Chapter 2

I nearly choked, "Iraq?!"

"Yes, I can give you more information when you accept the job." He said amused at my shock.

"Why? I wasn't able to trace your hacker. I barely got the information out of there in time before he got through my last firewall."

"Well, if you had managed to trace it back to us, we would have had much bigger problems." He chuckled.

"What will I be doing exactly?"

"Like I said, I'll be happy to brief you on everything, just as soon as you accept the job offer."

"What about my current position with BlackStoneTech?"

"They are well aware of the position we are offering you and are more than happy to temporarily fill your position until you return."

"I...I don't even know how to respond to this. I can't just leave my home and job, the life I've created for myself... I need some time to think about it, honestly."

"Unfortunately, we do not have that luxury. I will need an answer from you by tomorrow morning, 9am. I will send some one here to get your answer in person." He stood abruptly, cover in hand, "This is a very important matter, you would be doing your country a service should you choose to accept this offer." I stood to escort the men from my home.

"Can you at least tell me how long I will be in Iraq?" I opened the door for them.

General Stone turned to face me "As previously stated, I can only give you more information if you accept the offer." He sighed.

I nodded silently as they exited, each taking turns to replace their covers as they passed the doorway, "I guess I will be seeing you tomorrow then. Or someone at least."

"Thank you for your time." He paused just before turning away from me, "Ms. East, I would like you to know, you're our best chance at overcoming our current... problem. You'll be 100% safe where you'll be going. Your country needs you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I closed my door, locking it slowly.

Holy mother of God. I immediately picked up my cell phone and called the only person I knew I could talk to about this.

 _ringing_

 _ringing_

 _ringing_

"Hey, darling." Bobby's voice sounded pleased and tired at the same time.

"I need advice, Bobby."

"Is it about the Army?" His voice took a serious tone.

"What? How do you know about that? They literally just left my house?" My heart raced, what the hell is going on.

"They stopped by here a couple of hours ago, telling me they were looking to recruit you and they figured you would call me about it as I am your only known family member. They seem to be a couple steps ahead," he chuckled.

"What did they say to you?" I sank into my couch.

"That you were needed as a consultant for the US Army. And that they were going to send you over seas for that job. They also asked the likelihood of you accepting."

"What did you tell them?" I leaned forward, pressing my forehead into my palm.

"I told them you would be perfect for the position, but that you had made a life for yourself and you're the strongest woman I know. And the once you've made your mind up, there isn't a soul on this planet that could persuade you otherwise."

"Oh my God, what do I do?"

"Only you can decide this. This is an incredible opportunity for you. If I were you...I would go. It would be an adventure like no other."

I sighed, "What if I don't come back..."

There was a silence on the other line for a long moment, "You will. You're stronger than any challenges that could be thrown your way over there. Don't forget how far you've come, darling."

I let out a heavy breath. "They want an answer by tomorrow morning."

He stayed quiet again, "You know...you already practically live at work. It might do you some good to go out an see the world, maybe meet an army guy that I won't scare off." he gave a light chuckle.

"OK, you know what, Danny was sweet and you totally gave him the worst stories you could. That wasn't even fair."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone go that pale before. The boy all but ran from the house. He wasn't good enough for you anyway." he laughed.

I smiled at the sound, "I'll miss your birthday, Bobby." My heart sank a little at the thought.

"Oh, don't give me that. I have plenty more to come. This old bastard is way too stubborn to not see you come home, darling."

I smiled, "I love you, old man."

"I love you too, buttercup. No one will hold it against you if you don't want to go."

We both sat in silence for a moment. I ran through all of the possibilities that could come from this ordeal. What if there was a bomb dropped? What if I can't solve their issue? What if I made a mistake? What if I get trapped there? What if they want me to stay longer than planned? What if...

"I think I'm going to do it." I stated, my nerves making me nauseous.

"I'm proud to call you my daughter. You deserve this chance to show the world your strength." I could hear the clicks and pops of his 30 year old recliner as he stood.

"Alright, it is late enough and well past your bed time, old man." I said with a small laugh.

"Hey, hey, name calling is not nice, no matter how true."

I smiled, "Goodnight, Bobby. And thank you."

"Goodnight, darling. You get out there and show them what's what."

The line clicked.

I stood from my couch and headed to my bedroom to get more comfortable. After putting on my pj's, I hooked up my phone to my speakers, setting my night time classical music playlist up. The piano notes softly filled my quiet bedroom as I dropped on to my bed. The moonlight flooded my bedroom through my curtains, giving the room an eerie glow as I laid there imagining how tomorrow would go. Should I pack a bag now in order to be ready ahead of time? What all should I bring? How long will I be gone for? Should I take as much as I can in a carry on bag? Do I even bother to bring makeup? What is the weather like, should I bring a jacket and tank tops?

Fuck it.

I threw my blankets off of me and walked to my closet. I pulled out my unopened pack of black v-neck t-shirts and tossed them on to my bed followed by 6 pairs of jeans to start. I reached up to the top of my closet and found my carry on bag that was almost too big to be considered a carry-on. I grabbed my hiking boots and thickest scarf and tossed them in the same direction. Making my way into my bathroom, I found my small plastic case to fill with any makeup needs. I tossed in my tweezers, brow pencil, mascara, hair serum, and perfume, hair ties, and bobby pins. I grabbed my fake-fur lined jacket and laid it next to everything else on my bed. After packing it all nice and neat into the bag, I dropped it on to the floor at the foot of my bed and then just stood there trying to think of something else to do to occupy my over active brain.

Laying back down, my mind still spun around, coming up with the most insane scenarios possible. Eventually, I worried myself into a very restless sleep.

~0~0~0~

The loud slamming that resonated through my walls had me launching out of bed prepared for a fight. It took me a second to realize no one was in my house and it was in fact the front door. Picking up my phone off the night table, I checked the time: 9:03AM. Oh, good lord, it's the Army dudes. Seriously, give a girl a second to get up. Granted, I probably should have set my alarm, but in all of my worrying, I neglected to do so.

I shimmied my way down the hall and to the door. Opening it, I saw one man standing there- he's beautiful. He had a jawline sharp enough to kill and eyes more blue than the sky with almost jet black hair that was shaped perfectly. I stared awkwardly for a moment. My own dark brown hair a tangled mess that lay sad and limp on my shoulders.

"I-uh, sorry, my alarm didn't go off."

"That's fine, the General is waiting for your answer, Ms. East." he stated plainly.

"Well, then, right to the point I guess." I paused as my stomach turned over, "Yes, I accept the offer."

"Excellent, your plane departs in four hours, your car will pick you up in two." He turned abruptly and began to walk away.

"Wait!" I was shocked at how quickly that went. He turned back to me, his blue eyes piercing my own. I could feel myself flush, "Should I pack anything specific?"

"Leave your electronics, bring clothes you are comfortable in, and something warm, and nothing you can't carry."

I nodded, "OK...thank you."

He turned without another word, climbing into the back of a black SUV. Just like that, the beautiful man was gone.

I closed the door, pressing my back against the cool wood. _Holy shit._ I may have just signed my life away. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I turned back around and opened it again.

"Bobby!" I lurched forward and embraced the white haired man.

"Hi, darling." He smiled, hugging me tight, lifting me off my feet.

"I was just about to call you, what are you doing here?" I said as he placed me back on my feet.

"Well, I couldn't just let you go off to god knows where without bringing donuts and coffee." He reached down and picked up a box and two cups.

"Well, I was going to stop by before I left but this works too!" I took the coffee from him and turned to go inside.

We sat at the kitchen table and had nearly cleared the box of donuts, both of us have finished our coffee by now. I still had an hour before my ride came to get me and whisk me off to an unknown land. Our talks could go on for hours if we let them.

"I have to go shower really quick, give me ten?" I stood.

"You and I both know it takes you longer than ten minutes to shower. " he laughed as he finished the last bite of his donut.

I ignored his comment and tossed a stir stick at him before heading back down to my bedroom.

After my quick shower, I dressed in my hiking boots and loose jeans and red flannel for my trip. Bobby came into my room as I finished brushing my hair.

He picked up my bag off the floor, "They are here." he motioned with his head.

I sighed, laying down my brush, "OK, I can do this, it's a new adventure."

He smiled as I approached him, wrapping his free arm around me, we walked down the hallway. He pulled me close and hugged me tight, "I could not be more proud of you. I love you, buttercup."

I inhaled his scent, who knows how long it will be before I get this again, "I can't take my phone. So, you have my keys if you need to get into my house or anything. You don't need to stop by, I don't have anything here that needs taking care of."

He pulled back, gripping my shoulders, he smiled with tears in his eyes, "You got this, kid, go get 'em." He kissed my forehead before ushering me out the door and grabbing my bag.

A man in all black BDUs opened the back door of a black SUV and motioned for me to get inside. Bobby handed him my bag and smiled at me, "Good luck, darling." Before I could respond, the door shut and the vehicle drove off. I turned and watched as Bobby got smaller and smaller before we turned out of the neighborhood and onto the busy street.


End file.
